Sole-trimming machine.



A. BATES.

SOLB TRIMMING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 4, 1911.

LW9,U5& Patented 1111123, 1915.

(E NORRIS PETERS co., FHOTO-LITHQ, WASHING m". D, c.

conforming or shaping a rare an ormcn.

ARTHUR. 'BATES,,OF LEICESTER, ENGLAND, ASSIGNOR TO UNITED SHOE MACHINERY COMPANY, OF PATEHSON, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

SOLE-TBIMMING MACHINE.-

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 23, 1915.

Application filed May 4, 1911. Serial No. 624L982.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ARTHUR BATES, a subject of the King of England, residing at Leicester, Leicestershire, England, have 1nvented certain Improvements in Sole-Trimming Machines, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like reference characters on the drawings indicating like parts in the several figures.

This invention relates to machines for rounding or trimming the heel seats of boots and shoes after the soles have been attached to the uppers and more particularly to machines in which the rounding or trimming operation is performed by a flexible knife or die cohperating with a work support or cutting block, the die being adapted to conform to the shape of the counter of the shoe in order to trim off the heel seat of the sole on a curve similar to that of the counter.

It is an object of the present invention to improve and simplify the construction and operation of machines of the class described and especially to improve the operation of the flexible knife to the counter of the shoe preliminarily to the trimming operation. With this end in view the invention contemplates the employment of a curved knife of thin resilient steel which tends normally to contract so as to embrace and conform itself to the counter of the shoe. A knife or die of this character has been found particularly well adapted for use in a rounding machine because it conforms with accuracy to the shape of the counter and is equally effective upon shoes varying through a considerable range of sizes. 1 v

Another important feature of my invention consists in an improved type of guiding means whereby a tool for operating on a shoe, such as a trimming knife, may be positioned correctly with reference to the part.

of the shoe upon which it is desired to operate. Preferably the guiding means are arranged for adjustment in order to adapt the machine for the requirements of different sizes or styles of shoes.

As herein shown, the guiding means are operatively connected with the knife and so disposed with relation thereto that when the shoe is presented to the machine the guiding means will be preliminarily engaged by the shoe and actuated to expand the knife so as to permit-the entry of the shoe.

A further feature of the invention consists in so arranging the guiding means that they may move relatively to the tool or knife for the purpose of holding the shoe during the entire operation. Preferably the guiding means are in the form of rollers and in order to permit their movement relatively to the. knife they may be arranged to slide upon their journals against the action of a spring which tends to return them to initial position.

For purposes of illustration the invention will now be described as embodied in a machine of the type described in United States Letters Patent No. 1,027,638, granted May 28, 1912, on an application of John V.

.Allen, although it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to this type of machine but is of general application.

In the accompanying draWings,-'Figure 1 is a view in front elevation of the working parts of the machine; Fig. 2 is a partial view of the machine in side elevation on an enlarged scale; Fig. 3 is a plan view of the parts shown in Fig. 2. a

In the machine shown in the drawings, there is provided a sliding head 12 which is reciprocated in vertical ways formed in the frame 1-1 by suitable connections from the main shaft. Mounted on the head 12 is an adjustable carriage 16 upon which is mounted a flexible rounding knife and its supporting mechanism and also means for eXpanding the knife to the counter of the shoe. Arranged in alinement with the path of the knife is a cutting block 18 adjustably mountedupon the upper end of a vertical spindle 20.

The carriage 16 has projecting forwardly therefrom a pressing plate 22 which imparts the working pressure to a'pair of curved holding members 24 disposed beneath it and pivotally mounted upon a vertical spindle 26 16. Upon the inner surface of the holding members 24 are formed ribs or shoulders 27 which overlie the upper edge of the knife or die 28 and transmit thereto the working at the rear of the carriagev the counter of the shoe to be knife is fastened by screws or any other suitable means to the curved holding members 24 which are normally held closed or contracted by the resiliency of the knife. When, however, a shoe 90 is thrust forcibly into the entrance of the knife the knife will. be expanded and will conform at once to the shape of the counter.

In order to facilitate the entry of the shoe into the knife 28 and to position the knife correctly with relation to the heel seat of the sole two guiding rollers 30 are provided which are mounted to rotate on spindles 32. The spindles 32 are secured by bolts 34 in the split bosses 36 formed on the forward ends of the levers 38 and are slightly inclined so that the rollers shall turn about axes substantially parallel to the surfaces of the shoe upon which they bear. The levers 38 are journaled upon vertical spindles 40 mounted in brackets 42 secured to the outer sides of the holding members 24.

The lower ends of the guide rollers 30 are flared outwardly to form a flange 31 which is'adapted to enter the rand crease of the shoe as the latter is presented to the knife. In order to permit the rollers to be displaced longitudinally during the cutting operation as the rounding knife is forced through the'sole there is provided an abutment or shoulder 44 upon the lower end of each spindle 32 and a compression spring 46 which tends to hold the rollers normally in their lower position in'which the shoulder 44 is engaged by an annular shoulder in the bore of the roller. The shoulder 44'is conveniently formed by the head of a screw and the position of the guiding rollers may be adjusted with respect to the cutting edge of the knife 28 by moving the spindles 32 in the split bosses 36.

As already stated, the rollers 30 are mounted upon the forward ends of the levers 38 pivotally mounted upon the holding members 24. In order to adjust the position of the rollers transversely to vary the extent to which the ends of the knife 28 approach the body of the shoe each of the levers 38 is provided with an adjusting screw 48 which bears against the surface of the holding members 24. These screws 48 are maintained in-contact with the members 24 by the compression springs 50 arranged in bosses 51 formed in the levers 38and bear against the members 24. It will be seen that when the screws are turned in one direction or the other they will swing the levers 38 and move the rollers toward or away from one another. The screws 48 are locked in their adjusted positions by lock nuts 49.

The rollers 80 constitute guiding means against and past which a shoe may be thrust, as it is presented to the machine, to effect expanding of the knife 28 by a cam like rounded, The

action. It will be noticed that the rollers are located at a greater distance from the fulcrum of the holding members 24 than is the knife 28 so that the expanding force applied to the rollers is multiplied in being transmitted to the knife.

In operation, the position of the levers 38 is first determined in accordance with the width of the extension edge it is designed to leave on the sole or other peculiarity of work in hand. A shoe is then pushed between the rollers 80, the flanges 31 running in the rand crease at either side of the counter. The holders and knife will be expanded as the rollers approach the widest part of the counter and then, as the shank is reached, the resiliency of the knife will close in the rollers and the knife will shape itself to the particular counter within its recess. The machine is then started and the knife and shoe are moved toward the cutting block and the trimming or rounding operation performed.

It is believed that oppositely disposed guiding rollers have never been employed heretofore for relatively locating a shoe and a cutting tool operating in a path at right angles to the sole and the appended claims should, therefore, be construed to afford the protection warranted by the breadth of the invention.

aving described my invention, What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A machine of the class described having, in combination, a resilient curved knife flexible throughout its length and normally having a smaller contour than the counter of the shoe to be trimmed, and means whereby said knife may be expanded by the shoe itself as it is moved into the curve of the knife.

2. A machine of the class described having, in combination, av relatively movable sole rounding knife and cutting block, said knife being of thin resilient steel having a normal contour smaller than the contour of the counter of the shoe to be trimmed, whereby, of itself, it tends to embrace the counter of the shoe and conform to the shape thereof, and knife expanding means arranged to be operated by the shoe itself.

3. A machine of the class described having, in combination, a cutting tool for operating upon both sides of a shoe, and separate oppositely disposed guiding devices for engaging and positioning a shoe as it is presented to said tool, said devices acting, while the shoe is being presented to the tool, to control the shape of the cutting tool.

4. A machine of the class described having, in combination, a cutting tool operating at right angles to the sole of a shoe, and separate oppositely disposed guiding devices shaped to run in the rand crease of rounding knife and a shoe While being moved into operative relation with said tool and position the shoe relatively to said tool.

5. A machine of the class described having, in combination, a cutting tool, a cutting block, and means for causing relative movement of the tool and block, together With oppositely disposed guiding devices mounted to be turned about relatively inclined axes by their engagement with a shoe as it is moved into operative position.

6. A machine of the class described having, in combination, a cutting tool, a stationary cutting block, and means for moving said tool toward said cutting block, together with oppositely disposed guiding devices mounted to turn about axes at either side of said tool and being yieldingly maintained in axial position.

7. A machine of the class described having, in combination, a rounding knife, a spindle mounted adjacent to either side of said knife, and a guiding roller mounted to turn about each spindle.

8. A machine of the class described having, in combination, a rounding knife, an adjustable lever mounted adjacent to either side of said knife, and a guiding roller mounted to turn upon each lever.

9. A machine of the class described having, in combination, a rounding knife, a holder therefor, an adjustable lever mounted at each side of the holder, and a guiding roller carried by each lever.

10. A machine of the class described having, in combination, a rounding knife, a holder therefor comprising separate pivoted members, a lever mounted on each member, and a guiding roller carried by each lever.

11. A machine of the class described having, in combination, a rounding knife, a holder therefor comprising pivoted members connected to said knife, and a guide roller mounted on each member and so arranged that the pivoted members and knife are thereby adjusted during the presentation of a shoe.

12. A machine of the class described having, in combination, a U-shaped rounding knife and guide rollers located at either end of said knife for engaging a shoe presented to the knife.

18. A machine of the class described having, in combination, a U-shaped rounding knife and a guide roller located at either end of said knife and having a flange arranged to run in the rand crease of a shoe as it is being moved into the recess of said knife.

1a. A machine of the class described having, in combination, a resilient U-shaped oppositely disposed guide rollers separated by a distance less than the Width of the open end of the knife and acting to expand said knife as a shoe is moved into its recess and then to approach each other as the shank is reached thus permitting the knife to contract upon the counter of the shoe.

15. A machine of the class described having, in combination, a curved rounding knife and oppositely disposed rollers arranged at the open end of said knife to be engaged and rotated by a shoe as it is moved into the recess of said knife.

16. A machine of the class described having, in combination, a relatively movable rounding knife and cutting block, an adjustable holder for said knife, and means moved by the presentation of a shoe and acting through said adjustable holder for preliminarily shaping the knife to the counter of a shoe.

. 17. A machine of the class described having, in combination, a rounding knife, pivoted holding members therefor, levers mounted in said holding members to turn about axes parallel with the axis of the holders and guiding devices carried by said levers.

18. A machine of the class described havmg, in combination, a rounding knife, pivoted holding members therefor, levers mounted upon said holding members, positive adjusting means for turning said levers in one direction, and guiding devices carried by said levers.

19. A machine of the class described having, in combination, a rounding knife, adjustable holding members therefor, levers adjacent to the opposite sides of said knife, yielding means for swinging said levers apart, and guiding devices carried by said levers.

20. A machine of the class described having, in combination, a trimming knife having a curved cutting edge, rand crease engaging means for guiding a shoe presented to said knife, and means for adjusting said guiding means toward or from the plane of the cutting edge of said knife.

21. A machine of the class described having, in combination, a curved trimming knife normally having a smaller cutting outline than the counter of the shoe to be .trimmed, pivoted members connected with said knife, and guiding devices located at a greater distance from the fulcrum of said pivoted members than the knife and ar ranged to spread the members and expand the knife When engaged by a shoe as the latter is presented to the machine.

22. A machine of the class described having, in combination, a curved rounding knife normally having a smaller cutting outline than the counter of the shoe to be operated upon, and means acting on the presentation of a shoe to expand the rounding knife to receive the shoe and then to permit the knife to contract and embrace the counter.

23. A machine of the class described having, in combination, a U-shaped rounding knife, guide rollers located at either side of said knife for engaging a shoe presented to the knife, and yielding means for maintaining said rollers in position laterally.

24. A machine of the class described having, in combination, a tool provided with cutting portions adapted to operate simultaneously upon opposite sides of a shoe sole, said portions being normally spaced from each other by a distance less than the Width of the counter, and means located in the path of the shoe as the shoe is moved into operative relation with the tool for spreading said cutting portions to accommodate the counter.

25. A machine of the class described having, in combination, a trimming knife with a cutting edge disposed in a single plane, and shoe guiding rollers each having a flange adapted to run in the rand crease of a $1100 20 In testimony whereof I have signed my 1'5 name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

ARTHUR BATES. \Vitnesses ARTHUR ERNEST JERRAM, R0131. G. REID.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, D. C. 

